Love that Transcends Boundaries
by Sayuri Lapis
Summary: Aoi is a mermaid and Yusaku is a warrior of the wild. Both are approaching the age of maturity and Yusaku has no interest in mating with women and Aoi doesn't want to get married, until the two of them meet in person after an incident between them. Rated for heavy Lemon scenes. You have been warned about this.
1. Chapter 1

**I've wanted to write this for a while now, but I was so embarrassed about writing this. I'm not good at stories like this, so I'm probably going to delete this story later and not continue it.**

* * *

"Mm…nn..ah…."

The weather was sunny that morning. It was not too hot and the water was as bluer as ever. The waves were calming as there was a young couple that were apparently copulating on the smooth sand.

"Harder…harder…" A brown-haired girl moaned, wrapping her arms around a muscularly built back. Her cheeks were dabbed heavy pink and from the look on her face and the tone of her voice, she was thoroughly enjoying it.

The person who had the muscularly built back was a man and he was on top of her, nuzzling himself into the dainty curve of her neck, thrusting his member in and out at a seemingly fast rate. He was dominating her, and he should be enjoying it, but he wasn't.

Because he did something that was forbidden of her kind to do.

 _Just why did I have to impregnate her?_

* * *

It all began with a rescue.

"Aoi! I demand you to swim here this instant!" Akira Zaizen, king of the sea, angrily bellowed.

"What is it onii-sama?" The brown-haired girl now named Aoi asked, swimming up nervously. She knew why her brother wanted her at the altar.

"Why did you go up to the surface? How many times have I told you not to go up there?" Akira scolded.

"It's not what you think. There was a human drowning and I…"

"Let the human drown!" Akira angrily yelled, slamming his staff on the ground, causing a loud thundering noise. "Humans are scum. Touch one and the poison will touch your skin and will immediately take effect in your body, causing death! It's a miracle that the poison hasn't entered your bloodstream!"

Aoi rolled her eyes, knowing that this piece of information from her brother was baloney. Her brother was so overreactive sometimes. She often thought that he was abusing his power as the king of the sea. Weren't kings supposed to be fair and kind?

She was going to give what was coming to him.

"If I find out you have traveled up to the surface one more time, I'm going to ground you for a blue moon and you will have to miss your birthday that no one would want to celebrate after finding out what you have done!" The king glared at his little sister. His face looked so menacing.

"Fine." Aoi mumbled quietly, trembling from his vicious words. So much for trying to challenge him.

"Go to your room and think about what you have done." Akira ordered, pointing to the direction of her room.

Aoi obliged and swam slowly to her room. She shut the door and locked it behind her, trying not to cry.

But it all came out in waterfalls.

"It's not fair!" She sobbed into her clam-shaped pillow. What was it that merpeople had against humans? They weren't a high-risk species.

She was only doing the right thing.

Aoi continued to cry for a while more until someone knocked at her door.

"Aoi-chan." A sweet voice spoke. "I heard what happened."

The brunette immediately recognized the voice. "Come in Emma." She muffled into her pillow.

"I can't." The voice that now belonged to Emma spoke. The doorknob was jiggling. "You locked the door."

"I'll open it." The young mermaid sat up and swam to her door, unlocking the lock.

When she opened the door, a lilac-haired mermaid with a buxom chest wearing shells that only did the effort to cover her nipples. Her tail was a shade of shimmery purple.

Emma was a close friend of Aoi, as well as Akira, and was somewhat a therapist too.

"So you know what happened?" Aoi sniffled. Her eyes were red and mucus was dripping out of her nose.

Emma handed her a white handkerchief produced from the finest sea silk. "I heard the whole argument unfortunately. Your brother's only trying to protect you. When you turn 16 years old, you're going to ascend the throne and become engaged."

The word engaged set Aoi off. "I'm going to get married?"

Emma nodded. "Your brother discussed this with me a few weeks ago. Did he not tell you?"

"No." The same fiery rage from earlier was welcomed back to her body. When did her older brother, the king of the sea, decide this for her? This was something she was supposed to deal with!

"How dare he…" Aoi fumed.

"It's ok Aoi…he hasn't picked your future husband yet." Emma flailed her arms.

 _Shoot_ , she thought. Why did she have such a big mouth? Now Aoi and Akira's relationship was going to be further strained than before.

"Get. OUT." Aoi growled between words, clenching her fists.

"Alright." Emma sighed and stood up, approaching the door. "I'll see you later." She said before closing the door, leaving Aoi alone in her room.

* * *

Among the trees and the vines, A warrior was swinging through, wearing nothing except for black knee-length shorts that looked ratty.

His eyes were wide and alert. And green too.

Being very careful, he took small steps and made sure to not disturb his prey.

When the time was right, he flung the sharp spear and killed the animal.

"You did it Yusaku-kun!" A small purple creature with yellow eyes, sitting on the warrior's right shoulder, cheered in victory.

"Shut up AI." The warrior now named Yusaku hissed. "I don't need compliments."

"Sorry." The purple lifeform now named AI shrugged, obviously not caring. "Let's get back to the others and eat! I'm starving."

"I'm not concerned about your stomach." Yusaku coldly spoke and picked up the now deceased animal and draped it across his shoulder.

While Yusaku was walking, AI thought that it would be appropriate to engage in conversation.

"So what did you think about that cute girl that saved your life earlier today?"

"I don't want to think about it." The teenage boy growled, as if he was the ferocious animal he killed earlier.

"It's a shame we probably won't be able to see her again. She looked so beautiful. Plus, she had a tail too."

As AI was babbling on and on, Yusaku was thinking about something else, he was going to turn 16 soon and when humans in the jungle turned 16, they were considered mature adults and they were ready to find love and participate in the annual mating season.

This was something that he was not looking forward to. He didn't have interest in love. It was something worthless and pointless. And besides, he found sex to be overrated.

When he got close to his site, a familiar friend of his came up to him.

"Hi Yusaku!" A boy that was his age with red and white hair greeted him and looked at the dead animal that was on his shoulder. "You scored another one eh?"

"Hi Takeru." Yusaku replied.

"You scored another one eh?" A red creature named Flame that looked akin to AI was sitting on Takeru's shoulder too.

"Yusaku, have you started talking to girls yet?" Takeru asked.

"No, and I'm not interested." The pink and blue-haired boy replied, sitting on a rock.

"Why not?"

"Because sex is overrated. I'd rather hunt than do something pointless like that."

AI decided to butt in this time. "He's scared of girls." It taunted.

Takeru sighed. "You need something or someone to change your mind. Sex is amazing and pure bliss! We're going to be sixteen soon!"

"I've made my final decision. I'm not going to fall in love!" Yusaku growled.

Takeru rolled his eyes. There wasn't anything else he could do about it.

"Well, I'll know you'll change your mind eventually. I've started seeing someone. Her name is Kiku."

"Cool." Yusaku muttered blandly. Like he cared about what went on with his friend's love life.

"Don't worry Yusaku-kun, you'll find a woman that will care about you, like that girl that rescue-" AI tried to reassure, but got cut off by Yusaku, who squeezed the tiny creature with vengeance.

"Don't ever mention what happened." Yusaku angrily hissed.

"What? A girl rescued Yusaku?" Takeru asked. He was sounding curious now.

"Tell us about it." Flame sat in criss-cross style with his arms folded. "I'm interested now."

Yusaku gritted his teeth. This was so embarrassing. He was losing his image as a strong warrior.

There was no way out of this. The only choice there was was to tell the story of what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is the second chapter. I want to thank the last two reviewers that reviewed, especially Poetrymagic12 and Lucadina. As a thank you, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy :D**

"Oh, so that's what happened." Takeru and Flame said at the same time.

"Yep, and Yusaku was holding on to her hand, holding onto his dear life and when he was on the sand, the mermaid put her mouth on his! I saw the whole thing, since my life was in danger too!" AI explained, reenacting the whole scene starring himself. Yusaku was too embarrassed to say it so he had AI, much to his ire, do it instead.

"Did the mermaid put her mouth on yours?" Flame asked.

"No. She only did it to Yusaku."

Yusaku was blushing with madness. It was humiliating as the strongest warrior in the village that he almost drowned while trying to catch some fish and that creature had to come save him.

"Well, that probably explains a lot." Takeru joked.

Suddenly, a feminine voice called out Takeru's name, catching the attention of the four.

"I know that voice, it's…" Flame started.

"Kiku!" Takeru finished.

A girl wearing a long white dress with a tropical flower in her black braided hair ran over to Takeru and gave him a big hug. "How's my Take-kun?" She asked, kissing his cheek.

"Gr…Great…" The teenage boy panted, trying to breathe. Kiku was hugging him so hard that there was no air inside of his lungs.

"Kiku is Takeru's girlfriend." Flame explained.

"No…." Takeru's face was tomato red. "She's just a friend…for now."

Yusaku watched as the two displayed their affection.

 _Good for him._

The teenage boy yawned and stood up. "I'm going to go take a nap."

"Enjoy…." Takeru gasped, before Kiku started kissing him all over again.

* * *

"Aoi-sama, it's time for your daily princess lessons. Your instructor is waiting in the altar." A maid kindly knocked on the door.

"Leave me alone…" Aoi muffled into her pillow. She wasn't in the mood for lessons.

"You can't miss these lessons dear. Your brother made these mandatory for you to take." The maid continued to speak. "Please open this door."

"Fine." The brunette grumbled. She sat up and swam to her closet, looking for her princess lesson dress.

Soon, they were in the main altar.

"Make sure those books don't drop off of your head Aoi." The instructor warned.

 _Is this really necessary?_ Aoi thought as she wore her shimmery blue dress with thick textbooks balanced on her head.

As she was doing her lessons, her older brother King Akira swam in to check in on his little sister.

"How are your lessons coming along?" He asked her.

"They are coming alone fine." Aoi replied, smiling tightly.

"Aoi, I know you're still mad at me about yesterday. I'm sorry for yelling at you, but this is for your own good." The king's voice was filled with concern and a bit of remorse.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Aoi sighed and continued to pen the problems in her workbook. "I'm over it. I won't do it again."

"I know you won't do it again." The teal-haired king took a seat next to her. "I actually came in to talk to you about your future husband."

"Oh?" The brown-haired girl asked coldly in the form of a mumble, looking up from her work, directly at him. "I heard from Emma last night."

"I actually picked one out for you." He explained. "He's a wonderful man and he's very excited about meeting you."

"I don't want to get married. I don't want to become queen of the sea."

"Aoi, this is how things are. You are next in line for the throne and no one else can take your place." Akira explained, crossing his hands over his chest.

"I'm not interested in ruling over the sea one day." Aoi defended. "So can you just let me do as I please?"

"Aoi, please…" Akira demanded, he was starting to lose his patience.

This conversation was already riling up the young princess. Didn't her brother have other things to do?

"Onii-sama, don't you have royal duties to fufill? Like signing treaties and unifying our neighboring kingdoms?"

"I…uh…" The king mumbled, scratching his back. He was becoming flustered. "Now that you mention it, I do. We'll continue this discussion later." He stood up and left the large room.

Aoi was grateful that he was gone. She was free from him until a little while.

 _Marriage, huh?_ She wondered, pretending to admire the wonderful ceiling art. _I wonder what he's like. I hope he's not an old man. I hope his eyes are just as beautiful as that boy's…_

She stopped herself right there.

Why was she thinking about him?

He was a _human_.

A human and a mermaid can never elope together. They were incompatible, like oil and water. They were just too….different. Especially in the lower body.

According to the books that Aoi read on humans, humans produced offspring by the male connecting whatever he had down there to the woman.

The way that mermaid's mated was different compared to theirs, but it was still pleasurable all the same and Aoi feared marriage solely for this reason. What if her suitor was too persistent in intimacy?

Aoi's mind went back to the boy she rescued earlier. The boy looked like he was her age and she had to admit, he had good looks.

He was mature, well-built, and smelled nice too. Like nature, not saltwater. His eyes were so pretty to her too.

The brunette still remembered that she placed her mouth on his. Normally, one would think it as obscene, but Aoi did it to save him because she thought he wasn't breathing.

Her cheeks tinted pink and she smiled a little.

 _I hope he's doing ok. What is he doing right now?_

* * *

 _It was a sunny morning, and Yusaku was sleeping soundly on his soft white mattress._

" _Wake up! Wake up!" AI was jumping on his back._

" _Mmnnn…" Yusaku groaned. "Just a little more…." He turned around and was lying on his back, crushing AI. The sun's rays went through the open window and through Yusaku, forcing him to open his eyes._

" _Damn." He cussed. "Must it always be this bright every morning?"_

" _Yusaku…" AI moaned painfully from beneath him. "Get…off…of…me…"_

" _Oh." Yusaku rolled over and noticed that his ignis was squished deep into the mattress. "Sorry about that." He picked him up and set him on the edge of his bed board._

" _You're pretty heavy." AI commented as it was straightening itself up._

 _Yusaku ignored the comment and got his fishing rod ready. He was in the mood to eat fish._

 _As he was walking out, a chubby boy that looked like he was about his age ran up to him._

" _Good Morning Yusaku!" He greeted._

 _Yusaku rolled his eyes. It was Naoki, one of the most obnoxious people of the village. He was so nosy as well as noisy too. No one wanted to be around him._

" _Are you going to catch fish?" Naoki asked. "Can I come? Huh? Huh?"_

" _No, and I would appreciate it if you would get away from me and stay away as far as possible." The teenage boy grumbled and clenched his rod. Leave it to Naoki to ruin his morning._

 _Yusaku approached the sand and the ocean and took a deep breath. A small smile emerged on his face. He had just inhaled the fresh scent of morning by the ocean. Scents like this calmed him._

" _Now let's start!" He prepared his rod and threw the long string into the sea. Yusaku stood, waiting for a gullible fish to take the bait._

 _He waited…._

 _And waited…_

 _Until he eventually dosed off and napped for a while until AI woke him up._

" _Yusaku-kun! Look at your rod!" The ignis hollered in his ear._

" _Huh?" Yusaku jolted awake. His head was hurting a little from that sudden yelling. He noticed that the rod in his hand was starting to slip away from him._

" _I got something!" He pulled his rod, but whatever took the bait, it was too heavy to pull._

" _Nnnghh…" Yusaku groaned, using all of his strength to pull it back, but not before the string on his rod snapped in two._

" _Damn it!" The teenager cursed. His food was going to get away, so he dived into the ocean and swam as fast as he could like a shark._

 _Eventually, he reached the large fish, but not before he was close to choking. His lungs were about to give out on him._

 _Yusaku gave up and closed his eyes, letting go of the fish and sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean until he felt something grab him and pull himself up. It was a pleasant feeling for him, so he gripped on whatever on what was holding him until he was out of the water._

 _Yusaku's eyelids creaked open and he noticed a shadow in front of him. He couldn't identify who it was because he was so worn out from the ordeal of drowning._

 _Suddenly, the shadow leaned forward into him and placed a pair of lips on his. Air was suddenly in his body. It was so refreshing to him._

 _After a while, the pair of lips took off and Yusaku opened his eyes, noticing that the shadow was gone. The touch of the shadow's lips still lingered on his. It tasted like saltwater, but it was a nice taste._

" _AI, where were you?" Yusaku groaned, coughing a little._

" _I was in the water. Unlike you, I actually have experience with being underwater." AI boasted._

" _Who was that person that saved me?" Yusaku asked, picking up the ignis._

" _It was a mermaid. A girl mermaid." AI answered to its master._

" _A…girl…?" Yusaku spoke, sounding dumbfounded._

" _Yeah, she saved you from drowning and brought you up here. She also tried to breathe life back into you." AI continued._

" _What..?"_

" _You don't like that? She saved you from dying!"_

" _It's not that…" Yusaku's face became beet red. "It's the fact that a woman saved me. It is so shameful because I am the mightiest hunter and warrior of the village and what do you think they will say about me?"_

" _I'm sure they will understand…"_

" _They won't understand! This is so humiliating and mortifying!" He groaned. Yusaku was so angry right now that he could explode. He hoped that no one in the village saw him._

 _Besides, who was that mermaid anyway? Yusaku could only remember her by her lips, which were soft and salty._

 _And weren't mermaids supposed to be fake?_

" _What are you going to do now Yusaku-kun?" AI asked._

" _My stomach is still growling. I'm going to hunt for a tiger." Yusaku replied._

 _He then went back into the jungle. No matter how much he tried to forget, he couldn't forget that saltwater smell._


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long wait. I actually wrote this months ago and I forgot to post it. Here's chapter 3. I hope you enjoy. Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS belongs to NAS and Studio Gallop.**

Aoi and Emma were in town, just admiring the business of the vending stalls and the view. Normally, Aoi wasn't allowed outside the castle unless she had a valid reason to go, but Emma offered to be her chaperone, which Akira permitted.

"Aoi, doesn't this look so nice?" The lilac-haired woman asked, pointing to the elegantly sculped statues. There were three mermaid statues displayed that were the size of a average merfolk.

"Yeah." The brunette muttered, looking at a crowd of people that were seemingly surrounding someone or something instead of art. She was curious and wanted to see what was going on, so she began to swim, but Emma caught her hand.

"It's time. Let's go back, your brother's expecting you." Emma said to the girl.

Aoi pouted, "But I want to see what's going on over there. Can I?"

Emma sighed. "Well, I suppose it's not going to hurt you."

They swam through the crowd and saw a table sitting in the middle with an old haggy woman saying something that sounded a lot like gibberish. She stopped saying gibberish when she saw Aoi and Emma.

"Would you like your fortune to be told my dear princess? Or who will your future husband be?" The old woman asked.

"How do you know that I'm going to get married?" The female mermaid asked.

"I'm a fortune telling witch. I know everything. Now, would you like to know?" The witch stuck out her bony hand, handing Aoi a piece of paper which seemed to be a flyer. She looked impatient, like she really wanted to tell Aoi about something.

"Uh..." Aoi started, unsure on how to continue. She didn't know if she should say yes or no. Should she find out what her future husband is?

"No thanks." Emma answered for her. "We have to get going. Maybe another time." She fake-smiled at the merwitch and swam away, holding Aoi's hand.

"That woman was creepy." Aoi said as they were approaching the castle.

"Same. I hope we don't run into her ever again. She's a witch that brings misfortune." Emma explained, standing at the gate.

"How do you know?" Aoi asked her.

The gate opened and the two swam inside.

"I just know." Emma replied in exasperation and let go of Aoi's hand. "Now go. Your brother is expecting you."

Emma soon swam out of the palace, leaving Aoi alone. Aoi looked down at the piece of paper that the old woman handed her.

So she specializes in fortunes and problems? She wondered, reading the text.

"Aoi, we are waiting!" Akira yelled over the intercom. He sounded impatient.

"I'm coming onii-sama!" Aoi swam to her room and put the paper on her vanity desk before locking the door and swimming as fast as her fins could flap.

When she arrived, she saw her brother sitting on his throne and an old man next to him. He was wide and had a hairy chest and a pudgy face.

"It's about time you have come." Akira snapped. He looked very annoyed by Aoi's tardiness.

"I'm sorry onii-sama. Emma and I have come home late." Aoi apologized. She looked at the man who was sitting next to him. "Who is he?" She asked.

"He's your fiance." Akira explained. He sounded a little proud.

A sick feeling welled up in Aoi's stomach. This had to be a joke. A sick joke to be specific.

The room had become quiet. So quiet that the geyser's made a loud sound, spitting bubbles out.

"Onii-sama, are you sure this man is my fiance? Isn't he, well, a little old?" The brown-haired mermaid asked, breaking the silence.

"Aoi!" Akira scolded. It was clear he found Aoi's question to be offensive, especially since her future husband was sitting right next to him.

But the old man didn't seem bothered. In fact, he was a little entertained.

But there was no way that she was going to marry that guy. Just no way.

* * *

"Yusaku, how much longer are you going to nap?" AI scolded, sitting on Yusaku's pillow.

"Just a little more.." Yusaku groaned and put his head under the pillow. "Go away Shoichi."

"You don't live with Shoichi anymore remember?" The ignis reminded politely.

"Oh.." Yusaku mumbled, sitting up. His face was a little flustered. He forgot that he was living by himself.

Shoichi was Yusaku's guardian before he had started living on his own. When Yusaku lived with him, he and Jin often did things together and it was lively indeed. Shoichi was like a father Yusaku never had and he had no regrets.

Jin was still living with his brother as he was not coming of age yet, but he always got the chance to visit Yusaku when it was made available to him.

And just then there was a soft knock on his door.

"Come in." Yusaku called out, sitting up.

"It's just me." A familiar voice spoke as the door opened. It was Shoichi himself. When he noticed Yusaku on his bed, he let out a soft chuckle.

"Still taking mid-day naps huh?"

"Yeah..." Yusaku's cheeks reddened a little. It wasn't that Shoichi minded it, but Yusaku didn't like it when his former caretaker mentioned it.

"Have you started talking to any girls yet?" Shoichi asked.

Yusaku groaned. He didn't want Shoichi to start nagging about the girl issue to him too.

"No."

Shoichi sat down on the bed next to him. "You know, this is entirely optional. It's not a requirement. You are still an adult regardless if you have sex or not. It's just a privelage that most new adults earn."

"I know." Yusaku sighed.

"No one is forcing you to have sex." Shoichi continued. "It's up to you if you want to do it or not."

"I don't want to have sex for three reasons." Yusaku said, doing his three reasons why.

"Number one, Sex is overrated. Number Two, there aren't a lot of good women that are compatible with me. Number three, I don't need sex. I can live without it just fine."

"If that's what you want, then do it." Shoichi smiled. He always supported Yusaku's decisions as long as they had reasoning.

"How's Jin?" Yusaku asked, changing the subject.

"Jin is doing just fine. He misses you a lot and he wishes for you to come over every single day."

"I miss him too." Yusaku smiled, closing his eyes. He had made a million memories with Shoichi's little brother.

Shoichi then stood up. "I have to go see him now Yusaku. Take care." He then walked out, leaving the young teenager alone.

"Are you sure you want to give up on feeling human pleasure?" AI asked. "Because I don't think you are going to give it up. There is going to be a lady for you one day."

"That's not true." Yusaku answered. "Sex is lame. It's dumb."

"Whatever you say." AI sing-songed.

* * *

Throughout dinnertime, Aoi was patiently waiting for Akira to confess that this was a fallacy, but he didn't do it. He was instead eating his dinner politely, which only irritated the young princess further and further because it was true. It was already bad enough that her brother picked out her future husband without her consent, and now he wasn't willing to hear Aoi's side.

She couldn't take any of this. What she needed was some time to herself.

"Onii-sama..." She started, but Akira looked up and glared at her. Aoi immediately knew why he was so angry.

"I mean, your highness, I'm feeling quite full. May I be excused to my royal chamber?" She asked, using her royal manners. Akira always insisted that for her to be a proper princess, one must use appropriate language and elegance in wording.

"But you've barely eaten anything." The king pointed to her plate. It was still full of food.

"I don't like eating fish. The wild folk of the sea are my friends. I would never eat them." Aoi explained.

"If you insist." King Akira sighed.

The old man looked up at Aoi and smiled in a creepy way at her. Aoi swallowed nervously and gave her brother a pleading look. She wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.

"You may be dismissed to your chambers." The teal-haired king nodded.

Aoi wanted to kiss her brother thank you, but she didn't in fear of making him angry with her for not using her royal manners, so she gave her thanks and swam out. Once she reached her bedroom, she locked the door and sat on her seashell cushion.

Her entire body was trembling. What was her brother thinking? Was he blind? Did he think that girls these days were into old obese men?

It wasn't until a split minute later that the started to sob into her pillow.

Her life was going to turn to the worst unless she did something, which she couldn't, because her brother had her under his thumb. If she went out of line, her brother would use threats on her.

The more she thought about her older brother, than angrier she grew.

So to pass the time, and to forget about her brother for a few hours, she read her books and talked to her fish friends that were outside her bedroom window.

By the time the water was getting darker, Aoi had read all her books, talked, and was about to drift off to sleep until she heard a knock at the door.

Strange. The brunette thought. My maids shouldn't be knocking at this time.

"Aoi-sama, the king would like to see you immedately." The maid gently told her. "It's urgent."

"Yes." Aoi obliged. She swam out of her room and approached the altar. Her older brother was sitting on his throne, like always but tonight, he looked angry.

"Aoi, you are my little stepsister am I right?" He asked.

"Yes." Aoi answered nervously. She already knew why he was angry by the look on his face.

"And I am your older brother, the king who rules the sea fairly, am I right?" He asked again, sounding a little more angrier.

"Yes."

"Then explain your behavior at dinner a few hours earlier." King Akira ordered, his voice toning down to his usual coldness. "And why did you not get to know your future husband better."

"Onii-sama, I don't love him. I don't like men like that. I don't even know who he is." Aoi answered. Adrenaline was pumping throughout her body.

"If you got to know him better, maybe you would take a liking to this man. He already likes you, you know."

"But he doesn't know me, and there's a huge age gap between us. It's not healthy at all and it's weird. " Aoi reasoned.

"So you want a male commoner that is around your age who acts like a fool and has not tasted the life of a royal and knows poltics?"

"That's not what I said." Aoi gritted her teeth. The one who was acting like a fool here was her brother.

"Then who do you want to marry?"

"I..." The brown-haired mermaid trailed off when she thought of that human boy she rescued. Come to think of it, he looked like someone that would know how to rule a kingdom, but she doubted it. She didn't know him at all.

But she wanted to see him again.

"Aoi, don't be ridiculous. Running a kingdom isn't easy at all. The whole community depends on you." Akira rambled.

"I don't want to get married and I don't want to run a kingdom and that's final." Aoi firmly declared. She wanted to end this conversation with him.

"So you want to live a lazy life like you do right now? Go out of the palace and sit in your room all day talking to the sea creatures?" Akira pressed.

"It's not like that, and you never allow me to leave the palace anyway without a guardian."

That's it. Akira angrily thought. I've had it with you back talking me Aoi, and now I'm going to lay it on you.

"You're not going to do that anymore anyway." Akira announced.

"What do you mean?" Aoi asked. Fear niggled into her brain, as if it was a thin thread trying to get into a needle.

"This lifestyle of yours is causing you to become lazy and rude." The king said and slammed his staff on the ground. "Effective Immediately. Your lessons will be doubled and you are not allowed to leave this castle unless you are with me."

"Wh-What?" Aoi stammered. She couldn't believe what she was just hearing.

"You heard me. You will not be able to leave the palace for leisure time without me."

"Not even with Emma?"

"Nope."

The adrenaline in Aoi's body soon turned into anger and her fingers turned into a fist.

This wasn't fair. Her brother was really starting to go crazy.

"You can't do this onii-sama! This is cruel and unusual punishment!" The mermaid's eyes started to water.

"Oh yes I can, and it's not cruel and unusual punishment, this is for your own good. Your lessons will be doubled so you can learn how to become a queen. I even decided a marriage date for you and your partner."

"You did what?" Aoi couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Your wedding is scheduled for next week. Better start preparing starting tomorrow." Akira said.

Aoi looked at his face. He didn't have a smile on at all. All he had was a face of disappointment and anger.

"How could you..." Aoi choked, tears streaming down her face. The amount of hate for her brother right now was uncontrollable. "I hate you onii-sama. I hate you a lot."

"Hate me all you want, but you'll thank me in the future." King Akira told her calmly. "Don't call me onii-sama anymore either. Call me your highness."

"I'll never thank you for anything onii-sama." She growled and swam away furiously before her brother could scold her even further.

She slammed the door shut behind her and sobbed heavily.

Oh, if only she could tell Emma right now. Maybe she could talk some sense into her brother, but she was home for the night.

"I need to leave." She realized, and began to look at the window as her chance to escape, but not before the white sheet of paper was plastered against it.

"Oh." She muttered, peeling it off the window pane, and looked at it.

Aoi reread it and her eyes widened at the part that said that the woman had magic experiences.

"That's it!" She exclaimed. The witch that she met earlier today could help her out.

Aoi was instantly formulating a plan in her mind. A plan that was going to set her free.

Free from this hellhole and to meet that boy.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days had passed since King Akira scolded his little sister for her behavior. Aoi was swimming throughout the sea with a dolphin that was a friend of hers, feeling both excited and nervous.

This was it. She was finally free from her cage as if she was a wild animal captured. It had been pretty risky and Aoi was plenty impatient as well, since she had to wait a few days to make sure that the incident was over them and that her brother had moved on, but it was worth it.

She did all her lessons and listened to what her brother said to make sure that he thought she wasn't planning anything that would go against him. She had to wait until all the maids retired to their rooms and her brother to sleep. Once she was sure that they were fast asleep, she opened the window in her room and called out her best friend, which was the dolphin and she was out like that.

But Aoi wasn't done yet.

She needed to find the witch and help her with her plan to become human. She and the dolphin had been searching for the destination for a long time now and If she didn't find her soon, she would have to go back to the palace and Akira would move her wedding to a earlier date when he would learn of her failed escape.

The thought of her brother at that moment made her shiver. He had become a monster because of his job and put her through a ton of hell. The thought of her future fiance also repulsed her.

The dolphin stopped swimming and squeaked at Aoi to tell her that this was the destination.

"Thank you." Aoi hugged the underwater animal and kissed it. "I'll miss you a whole lot."

The dolphin smiled at her and swam away, leaving the young mermaid alone in front of a dark cave.

Aoi took a deep breath and began to swim. _Here I go._

As the brown-haired girl was in the dark cave, she had encountered a lot of creepy creatures and even a grimy merman, who offered her some money in exchange for having sex with her, which she politely declined and moved on.

Aoi finally saw a bright light at the end and continued, until she realized she was standing in what seemed to be a laboratory.

"Come in." A familiar voice greeted.

"H-Hi." Aoi stammered. She started to fidget with her fingers and wondered if this was a good idea. Emma did warn her that this woman wasn't a person of good after all.

The same old woman that Aoi had encountered in town swam to her, with a smile on her face.

"Well well, if it isn't Princess Aoi. Have a seat." The woman led her to a wooden stool.

"Thank you." The brown-haired mermaid sat down and watched as the old woman sat in her very own rocking chair. The room was not too eerie, but it had something with threw Aoi off, even though she didn't know what it was.

"So what brings you here in the late night my dear?"

"I actually have a request for you to make. I even brought some money with me as payment." Aoi pointed to her bag.

"Tell me you request. You didn't have to bring money my dear." The old woman smiled. "The royal family always gets to do things free by me."

"I want to become a human." Aoi told her. "Please. Can you do it?"

"Of course I can do that for you. Is there a certain reason for why you want to become a human?"

"I want to get away from here. I can't stand my brother at all." Aoi answered, leaving out the part where she wanted to meet that human boy.

"I see. Are you sure it's not also because you want to meet a certain boy?" The witch asked.

"How do you know that?" Aoi asked.

"I'm a fortune-telling witch. I know all about the merfolk here. Even the royals. I can read people's minds you see."

"Is that why you are so popular?"

"Of course! I can even read the future." The witch smiled and stood up. "Now let's transform you into a human." She swam to the lab section and Aoi followed behind her.

As the witch was swimming, Aoi took the opportunity to look around and notice that she had bottles and bottles of unknown substances stacked on top of each other. She also had a large pot sitting in a corner of the room.

"I got all the ingredients needed to make the potion dear." The witch said, pushing a small cart full of bottles.

"A potion? I thought you were going to zap me and turn me into a human." Aoi said.

"How silly, witches don't do that." The white haired woman cackled and swam to the large black pot, where she had begun to pour all the liquids in as well as a couple of spicy herbs and dead animals.

"Done!" The witch said and took a empty bottle, filling it with that potion that was now colored dark green. "Go up to the surface and once you are completely on the sand, drink it."

"Why can't I drink it here?"

"Because once you become human, you lose the ability to breathe underwater. The potion changes the structure of your lungs." The old woman explained, handing her the bottle.

"Thank you." Aoi said politely.

"My pleasure. Now go. Daylight is approaching soon." The old woman warned. "If you stay underwater any longer, you will eventually be caught."

"I understand. Thank you once again!" Aoi said and was on her way out. She swam out as fast as she could, feeling very excited.

 _I can't wait to see you!_ Aoi thought with excitement.

As she was reaching closer and closer to the surface, her smile grew.

When she was out of the water, the first thing she noticed was that there was no one around and she was completely alone on the sand.

She looked west of her and noticed that the sky on that end was warm colored and the sun was starting to rise.

Aoi looked at the bottle that the witch gave her. The potion was green and Aoi was having second thoughts.

Was this potion really going to work on her? Or was it going to harm her? If the potion wasn't harmless, was she going to still be Aoi after that? Or was she going to become someone, or something else?

As Aoi was thinking, she could feel her breathing hitch. She had to drink the potion. _Now_.

"Here goes." Aoi mumbled as she opened the bottle. The smell of the bottle had a strange floral smell but Aoi dismissed the smell and swallowed all the liquid that was available in the bottle.

At first, she didn't feel any different, but then she felt a sharp pang of pain go throughout her body. It was the harshest pain that Aoi had ever felt in her life.

"Augh!" Aoi shrieked and her face hit the sand, convulsing in pain. As she screamed, her tail started to fade away and Aoi could finally breathe air.

After a few minutes, the pain disappeared and Aoi fainted. She was naked and no longer did she have her pretty tail, but two slim, beautiful legs in exchange.

* * *

"Morning Yusaku!" Naoki greeted, being loud and obnoxious, as always.

"Morning." Yusaku groaned. Out of all the people to greet him in the morning, why Naoki? Why couldn't it have been Takeru instead? Takeru wasn't so loud as this chubby one was.

"Can I go hunting with you? Huh? Huh?" Naoki was prancing around Yusaku, squealing like a fangirl.

"Maybe, you can be my bait for my next catch." Yusaku snickered. Nothing like some sick humor to wake him up.

"So is it a yes?" Naoki asked.

"NO." Yusaku darkly answered, his eyes turned into slits.

"Ok then!" Naoki cheerfully replied, completely oblivious to Yusaku's dark face.

"That guy is so dense." Ai sighed. The creature was sitting on Yusaku's shoulder.

"I agree, and he's a stupid one too." Yusaku said as he was walking. He arrived at the beach and sat down at the sand, inhaling the fresh air that was provided.

"Yusaku, over there!" AI pointed to his left.

"What is it?" Yusaku looked in AI's direction and saw a girl lying unconscious on the sand. Her head was thrown back and she had no article of clothing on.

"Are you blind? It's a girl!" AI exclaimed. "You're even denser than Naoki."

"No I'm not." Yusaku said and walked over to the girl. "What is she doing here?"

"Doesn't look like she's from our village. I'm assuming she was washed up on here by accident." AI assumed, but quickly changed that when it looked up at the girl closer.

"It's the girl that rescued you!"

"Stop joking around AI." Yusaku grumbled.

"It's not a joke. It really is her!" AI flailed its arms. "I think she might be dead."

"And how do you know if she is dead?"

"I don't know actually, but maybe you can do mouth to mouth..."

AI didn't get to finish his sentence because Yusaku grabbed the ignis off of his shoulder and begun to bury him in the sand. "Don't you dare suggest anything like that to me ever again!" He hissed angrily.

"I won't say it again, please let me out!" AI begged. "Please forgive me."

As AI was wailing, Aoi's body was starting to stir and she was opening her eyes. Once they were open, she was staring at the clear blue sky.

"Where am I?" Aoi mumbled quietly. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, noticing that she was on the beach.

 _Oh, that's right._ The brown-haired female thought. _I drank the potion that the witch gave me and I became..._ She looked down at where her tail used to be and saw that she had legs instead.

 _Human._

She placed her palm on her thigh and her palm traveled down to her calves, feeling the smoothness of her new legs. _They're so beautiful._ Aoi thought. The brunette also noticed that she could breathe just fine, and she wasn't choking anymore.

 _So the potion did work._ She thought again, but with a surge of happiness. Her only problem now was; what was she going to wear?

Looking around, Aoi noticed that there was another person on the beach and he was down on his knees. It looked like he was yelling at something but what?

Maybe this guy could help her around here.

"Excuse me!" Aoi yelled out.

Yusaku stopped yelling at AI and turned around. When he turned around, Aoi's brown eyes widened. She immediately recognized his face.

It was him. It was the boy that she had rescued not long ago.

"It's you..." Aoi started

"Who are you and where are you from?" Yusaku asked her, trying to focus on her face and not her naked body.

"Um...I'm..." Aoi trailed off. She felt embarassed now. His emerald eyes were now looking at her face.

"My name is Aoi. I was formally a mermaid." She answered.

There was no response from Yusaku and it was silent between them for a few minutes. Only the sound of the waves could be heard and the light wind blowing against their skin.

"Your brain must be jumbled from the storm last night." Yusaku finally broke the silence with that statement.

Aoi got a little offended when he said that. "But I really was a mermaid! Do you even remember me? I saved you!" Aoi claimed. Was this guy really dumb or did he forget?

"I don't know what you were talking about. Mermaids are just part of those childish fairy tales. They don't exist. I know nothing about you either."

Aoi's heart fell a little. _He doesn't remember me and he seems to dismiss the existence of us._

"Do you remember drowning in the sea?" Aoi pressed. He must have remembered that.

"I did drown a few days ago and mysteriously landed up on shore, but that's all I remember. And how did you rescue me from the sea? You could have drowned yourself."

"I..." Aoi stopped talking when she was about to say that she was given a potion by the witch but she wasn't sure of Yusaku's reaction to that. Did humans think witches were evil too? She decided not to say it, fearing that Yusaku would abandon her.

"You're right." The brown-haired girl sadly sighed. "I don't remember anything. I lost my memory."

She put her head down and felt sadness well up inside her. She bit her lip, trying not to cry. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. Why didn't he remember her? Didn't he see her face? This was the worst day of her entire life.

Yusaku started to feel bad for her as watched her put her head down. He even heard a sniffle coming out of her, so he decided that he could help her for a while, until she knew what was around here. He walked over to her and knelt down.

He touched her chin with his hand and brought her face up. He noticed that her eyes were closed and there were several tears streaming down her face.

"Don't cry." He wiped the tears off of her face. Aoi looked at his eyes and could tell that he looked a little sad as well. "You can come in and live with me for a while since you're not from here."

Aoi stopped crying and looked at him. "Really?" She asked.

Yusaku nodded.

"Thank you." Aoi whispered.

"Come on." The blue and pink-haired boy stood up and offered his hand to her. "I'll show you around our village."

"Yes." Aoi touched his hand and tried to stand up but she fell back down. A dull pain went through her legs.

"Do your legs hurt?" Yusaku asked.

"Yeah. I actually don't know how to walk." Aoi whimpered. Since she spent all of her life underwater, she used her tail as a form of traveling and walking on legs was something new for her.

Yusaku bent down and picked her up. "I'll teach you how to walk." He told her.

"Yeah." Aoi's face flushed. He was holding her naked and she could feel the touch of her hands on her bare skin. It was very embarrassing and Aoi wanted him to get to his house as soon as possible, hopefully with no one around.

"What is your name?" Yusaku then asked her.

"My name is Aoi." The brunette replied and asked Yusaku the same question.

"My name is Yusaku."

"Yusaku is a nice name." Aoi smiled. She held on tight.

Before Yusaku took his first step, he heard muffles from his ignis.

"What's that sound coming from?" The brunette asked.

"It's my Ai."

Now Aoi was curious. "What's an AI?"

Yusaku bent down, still holding Aoi, and picked up his ignis and put it on his shoulder.

"I demand an apology for you burying me in the sand!" Ai angrily yelled.

"I don't need to apologize for anything." Yusaku answered and began walking.

Ai then noticed Aoi in Yusaku's arms and gasped.

"It's you!"

"You know me?" Aoi asked. Her heart jumped a little.

The ignis nodded. "You were the one that rescued..."

"What was that?" Yusaku interrupted the conversation and stopped walking.

"Nothing nothing!" Ai sweated.

Yusaku went back to walking and Ai winked at Aoi.

"I'll tell you later."

* * *

 **Thank you for the reviews that were given. It really does mean a lot to me and to that guest that wrote to me that this is a very good story. Is it really? I have a lot of self doubt in myself so I'm kind of finding that as false. and if you find mistakes or have criticism, please tell me. I want to improve.**


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